Is it worth logging?

Kayley_Appleseed
Kayley_Appleseed Posts: 6
in Fitness and Exercise
Hello!

I have a question about logging certain activities without a heart rate monitor, for example, I spent the morning pulling weeds and gardening.. MFP has gardening as an exercise so I was wondering if I enter the correct time duration how accurate the calorie burn would be.

Replies

  • RllyGudTweetr
    RllyGudTweetr Posts: 2,019 Member
    All the numbers provided on MFP - and those provided by a HRM - are 'best estimates' of calories burned, rather than exact measurements of that number. Personally, I set my activity to 'sedentary' and log any prolonged moving around that I do, be it lawn-mowing or walking to and from the grocers. Many folks choose to only eat back 50 - 75% of the calories logged from activities, because they don't trust the numbers to be accurate enough.

    Good luck.
  • MyouTakaraTriesAgain
    MyouTakaraTriesAgain Posts: 68
    Stuff like that should be accounted for in your activity level setting.
  • 3dogsrunning
    3dogsrunning Posts: 27,167 Member
    A HRM would not be accurate for things like gardening their calorie estimation algorithms are based on steady state cardio which this is not.
    From what I have seen, MFPs numbers are pretty high.


    Personally I wouldn't log it a way. Yeah you burned a few extra calories but there will be days you will burn a few less than usual or go over your calorie intake. I'd consider it a bonus and move on.
  • Kayley_Appleseed
    Kayley_Appleseed Posts: 6
    Personally I wouldn't log it a way. Yeah you burned a few extra calories but there will be days you will burn a few less than usual or go over your calorie intake. I'd consider it a bonus and move on.

    Awesome advice! I'll definitely remember that! Thanks!
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,342 Member
    I don't trust the MFP numbers at all, and never eat back more than 50% of what I allegedly burn. Seriously, I do NOT burn off a king size Snickers in 30 mins of leisurely swimming. :laugh:
  • servicedograiser
    servicedograiser Posts: 38 Member
    I log when it is highly unusual activity for me. I am set at 1200 calories (sedentary) and I can be very hungry from activity, and it provides a range of added calories I can eat. As I heal from knee surgery, when I can do more in my everyday activity, I will change my setting to lightly active and skip logging activities that are not as unusual as they are now. So in my opinion, Logging Activity is a sliding scale, and you must determine what amount is in your normal activities and what is above and beyond!

    Enjoy Parenthood. I'm sure you will find lots of support here in the forums and with friends. Be sure to log in daily!

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